A new state of matter?

The universe is a string-net liquid

In the experiment, electrons moving in the interface between two semiconductors behaved as though they were made up of particles with only a fraction of the electron's charge. This so-called fractional quantum hall effect (FQHE) suggested that electrons may not be elementary particles after all. However, it soon became clear that electrons under certain conditions can congregate in a way that gives them the illusion of having fractional charge - an explanation that earned Laughlin, Horst Störmer and Daniel Tsui the Nobel prize (New Scientist, 31 January 1998, p 36).

Wen suspected that the effect could be an example of a new type of matter. Different phases of matter are characterised by the way their atoms are organised. In a liquid, for instance, atoms are randomly distributed, whereas atoms in a solid are rigidly positioned in a lattice. FQHE systems are different. "If you take a snapshot of the position of electrons in an FQHE system they appear random and you think you have a liquid," says Wen. But step back, and you see that, unlike in a liquid, the electrons dance around each other in well-defined steps.

It is as if the electrons are entangled. Today, physicists use the term to describe a property in quantum mechanics in which particles can be linked despite being separated by great distances. Wen speculated that FQHE systems represented a state of matter in which entanglement was an intrinsic property, with particles tied to each other in a complicated manner across the entire material.

Very interesting article though I'm still trying to wrap my head around it so can't comment much. Could this be a step forward towards Quantum Computing? If this new state of matter is harnessed easily then it definitely will IMO.

[edit on 15-3-2007 by sardion2000]

I can't say for sure what this will open doors to... but it certainly is interesting. Electrons appearing to have a fraction of their actual charge... now thats cool. Can't think of anything that would be useful for... but interesting never-the-less.

Did you catch this further down?

The universe is a string-net liquid


Light and matter unified

The pair ran simulations to see if their string-nets could give rise to conventional particles and fractionally charged quasi-particles. They did. They also found something even more surprising. As the net of strings vibrated, it produced a wave that behaved according to a very familiar set of laws - Maxwell's equations, which describe the behaviour of light. "A hundred and fifty years after Maxwell wrote them down, here they emerged by accident," says Wen.

That blew me away when I read that.

[edit on 15-3-2007 by sardion2000]

[edit on 15-3-2007 by sardion2000]

[edit on 15-3-2007 by sardion2000]

Noone else interested in this? Oh well. And as always, if you find this interesting, Flag it so other people can see it too.

[edit on 15-3-2007 by sardion2000]

Hey, I'm interested.
Just not sure what to say.

Are they saying that this state behaves like an organized liquid?

Could the fractional charge be a result of a cumulative charge, with some of the fields being organized in such a way as to cancel each other out? But some fields not quite oriented in the same way, so they still express SOME charge?

Questions questions..

Herbertsmithite (pictured) is unusual because
its electrons are arranged in a
triangular lattice. Normally,
electrons prefer to line up so
that their spins are in the
opposite direction to that of
their immediate neighbours,
but in a triangle this is impossible -
there will always be neighbouring
electrons spinning in the same
direction. Wen and Levin's model
shows that such a system would
be a string-net liquid.

"Suddenly we realised, maybe the vacuum of our whole universe is a string-net liquid," says Wen. "It would provide a unified explanation of how both light and matter arise." So in their theory elementary particles are not the fundamental building blocks of matter. Instead, they emerge from the deeper structure of the non-empty vacuum of space-time.

There is just so much to absorb with this new theory that I'm afraid of making any concrete observations atm. If this theory turns out to be correct that the Vacuum is actually made up of such a "String-net liquid", then we will have finally figured out what the vacuum is actually made of, something which I've been bitching about for ages. Perhaps I was right in assuming that all gravity is, is a type of "whirl-pool" in the fabric of space-time(ie The Vacuum). If it turns out that all the vacuum is, is a type of Liquid then it would make a lot of conceptual sense.

The team measured the degree of magnetisation in the material, in response to an applied magnetic field. If herbertsmithite behaves like ordinary matter, they argue, then below about 26 °C the spins of its electrons should stop fluctuating - a condition called magnetic order. But the team found no such transition, even down to just a fraction above absolute zero.

[edit on 15-3-2007 by sardion2000]

This is very interesting, not sure really what to say though.


I do have a question as to something the article said though.

...suggested that electrons may not be elementary particles after all...

Are they saying that Electrons are made of even smaller particles?

I thought Electrons were supposed to be indivisable, but I have read
that it was possible that they themselves were made up of smaller quantum components.


EDIT:
Forgot to finish the last sentence.

[edit on 3/15/2007 by iori_komei]

That is what I was taught as well. I have many more questions bubbling up. This has hit the top page so hopefully someone will see it that knows more then we all do. I'll U2U neon to see what his take on this is.

Originally posted by sardion2000
That is what I was taught as well. I have many more questions bubbling up. This has hit the top page so hopefully someone will see it that knows more then we all do. I'll U2U neon to see what his take on this is.

Sardion just something that I think you and others will appreciate in regards to electron behavior and thanks for this new info I love it.

Google Video Link

[edit on 16-3-2007 by Realtruth]

Stuff like this turns my brain to liquid goo.

Interesting so it shall be flagged for the people that know what they are talking about to read.

www.newscientist.com...

Silicon for a quantum age

Herbertsmithite could be the new silicon - the building block for quantum computers.

In theory, quantum computers are far superior to classical computers. In practice, they are difficult to construct because quantum bits, or qubits, are extremely fragile. Even a slight knock can destroy stored information.

In the late 1980s, mathematician Michael Freedman, then at Harvard University, and Alexei Kitaev, then at the Landau Institute for Theoretical Physics in Russia, independently came up with a radical solution to this problem. Instead of storing qubits in properties of particles, such as an electron's spin, they suggested that qubits could be encoded into properties shared by the whole material, and so would be harder to disrupt (New Scientist, 24 January 2004, p 30). "The trouble is the physical materials we know about, like the chair you're sitting on, don't actually have these exotic properties," says Freedman.

Physicists told Freedman that the material he needed simply didn't exist, but Joel Helton's group at MIT might just prove them wrong. The material would be a string-net liquid with elementary and quasi-particles at the end of each string. Physicists could manipulate quasi-particles with electric fields, braiding them around each other, encoding information in the number of times the strings twist and knot, says Freedman. A disturbance might knock the whole braid, but it won't change the number of twists - protecting the information.

"The hardware itself would correct any errors," says Miguel Angel Martin-Delgado of Complutense University in Madrid, Spain.

I just reread the article and realized I didn't quote any of the most juicy material that really caught my eye. This could actually prove to be a shortcut towards Quantum Computers. I think I'm gonna learn more about this type of ore....

Hi sardion2000

This is highly interesting work, and is the first direct data we have to support the quantum gravity model.

Though as you may know I like to think of the Ether as a chaotic sea of quantum foam that gives rise to matter and energy. LQG uses spin networks to describe this.

This is however a very very interesting paper and I shall be reviewing it and giving you my full attention shortly.

It's unfortunate that this very interesting piece of work should come now as I have my hands full at the moment.

But will dedicate my free time to scrutinizing and disseminating the following paper.

From new states of matter to a unification of light and electrons

If you want to know more about Wren, here is his home page.

Xiao-Gang Wen

The following is also of interest.

A new paradigm of condensed matter physics beyond Landau’s theories

Hope that helps and I will be back shortly.

All the best,

NeoN HaZe.

[edit on 16-3-2007 by Neon Haze]

Thanks for bringing this to our attention sardion. I will pursue it further as time permits (off and on between all the other noise).

Good they are close to conclusion that all particles has frequency and electic charge (even light) on it and picture of micro is apsolutly same as macro( elecron has spin and vortice movement li planet earth over sun).

Group material of atoms are conneted together. There is no NEW state of matter, only change of frequ and kinetic quantum teory What are they say is blunt 1 grade.

Earth has spin, earth has electric charge on it. all atoms in earth has spin. Human has 10^28 atoms and they all spin infinite vortices. True nature of atom has blach hole in center like in macro galaxy.

This is facinating stuff...I'm glad someone mentioned ether, it really does harken back to the idea of a possiblility filled medium of the 'vacuum'.
As a physics undergrad I have very little to contribute to what this could mean in application, but it seems that other than quantum computing, an 'ether' filled vacuum would allow an almost instantaneous (light speed) conduit for information and energy, and could allow us to create technology to harness what sounds similar to the meta-physical "zero-point" energy idea - or at least to transfer and concentrate the vast energy of stars and other celestial bodies to space crafts, extraterrestrial settlements and asteroid mining operations...
Might be getting ahead of myself here, but it is exciting stuff to consider..

Wow...if you're going to trash the standard model, might as well go all the way!

That would really be funny. I haven't had any time at all to look at this stuff, are they saying that this string-net liquid is a feature of the material interface they were examining, or is it all-pervasive?

It would be a hoot if it was everywhere and established an "absolute" universal coordinate reference, relativity would be on the rocks as well as the standard model.

Was talking last night with someone here about Millikan and his early oil-drop experiments...he was seeing what he thought to be fractional charges but later decided the data was faulty and redacted it. We were kicking around recreating the experiment to see if we could observe the same thing. Would be funny if he really DID see fractional charges.

Edit: just found this, it's sort of interesting:

phys.columbia.edu...


[edit on 16-3-2007 by Tom Bedlam]

That would really be funny. I haven't had any time at all to look at this stuff, are they saying that this string-net liquid is a feature of the material interface they were examining, or is it all-pervasive?

I believe the answer to that is both.

So anyone else have any more insight into this theory? I still remain intensely interested.

Originally posted by sardion2000
[So anyone else have any more insight into this theory? I still remain intensely interested.

The premise of this paper and the idea of string-net liquid arose by looking at the organisation of seemingly random arrangements.

The key to understanding natural order in any structure is to understand not just the components of organisation but in realising that through the chaos of pure potentiality comes structure and order.

The idea of the ether purely being a string-net liquid is ignoring the foundations by which organisation springs... Quantum Foam....

Though I will not belittle this work because it is nothing short of brilliant.

With a better understanding of superfluidity comes many advantages across many sectors, Advantages that will push technology advancement at an even faster past.

Excellent post Sardion!!

All the best,

NeoN HaZe.